B.C. biologist and activist Alexandra Morton.

B.C. biologist and activist Alexandra Morton says a proposed federal plan for managing the fish-farm industry on the West Coast falls short when it comes to outlining how individual pens will be monitored.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada began developing the new regulatory framework after the B.C. Supreme Court declared provincial finfish regulations invalid. In the February 2009 ruling, Justice Christopher Hinkson concluded the aquaculture fishery falls under federal jurisdiction.

Morton said more mechanisms are needed in the draft regulations to help gauge the impact fish-farm operations have on wild salmon populations.

“There should be extensive measurements going on outside of the farms, but none of that is included,” she told the Straight today (September 3) by phone.

The Tofino-based group Friends of Clayoquot Sound has also criticized the federal plan for linking the conditions fish-farm operators must meet to individual licences.

Trevor Swerdfager, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said the regulations are meant to provide the department and minister with a range of tools to manage the industry.

“We need to keep in mind that one fish farm is not identical to another,” Swerdfager told the Straight today by phone.

“We will have finfish licences that will be very similar, but the idea here is to give the minister quite an extensive menu of conditions that we can apply to meet the individual circumstances as opposed to sort of a cookie-cutter approach that just really is unlikely to be workable,” he said.

Swerdfager said the regulations have not been finalized, but will likely call for monitoring or reporting related to sea lice, the sea floor, the area surrounding sites, disease, and other issues.

He said the federal fisheries department aims to establish a regulatory regime that protects marine ecosystems and ensures the aquaculture industry is sustainable on the West Coast.

The Pacific Aquaculture Regulations are set to be in place by mid-December. Public comment on the plan is being accepted until September 8.